The billionaire's reluctant mistress

Chapter 13

Chapter 13:

Rachel and Sabrina were rewarded with a generous amount even though she knew they weren't the ones who had solved the problems with the loan. At lunch, Katy happily said: "Lunch on you two then!"

After eating, Rachel sent the money to her aunt. Less than ten minutes later, her phone rang.

“Hi, Aunt Rebecca.” Rachel picked the phone up.

“Rachel! I got the money. Why did you send us so much?”

“I got a bonus for a project, don’t worry about it.”

“But you have just sent me some last month, we can’t take that much from you.”

“Auntie, I told you many times, don't worry about it. Your health is more important than anything. Besides, you need it. Uncle's next treatment will be on the 19th, right?”

“Rachel…” Rebecca paused for a second, “My dear, I don’t know what I’d do without you. Will you come home soon?”

“I don't think I can, Auntie. I want to but I can’t take any more annual leave.”

Uncle Hardy had chemotherapy once every three months, a process that drained the whole family physically and mentally. Uncle Hardy had been diagnosed with the early signs of bone marrow cancer about four years ago, when Rachel had just graduated from college. Insurance refused to cover the medical bills, and the cost of treatment quickly consumed the family's savings. Within a year, they had to sell the garage. It was the darkest time Rachel had ever experienced. Most of the time,she felt lonely and lost. Her salary as a secretary was enough for herself in a big city, but it was not enough to support her family. She had to find ways to cut daily costs and send the rest to her aunt. Fortunately, the money from selling the garage was enough for them to last until she graduated and found a job with a higher income. But the amount of money she made still was nothing compared to the amount of money Uncle Hardy needed for his illness. For the past four years, they had struggled.

Although Rachel couldn't go home, she made video calls every day to check on how her aunt and uncle were doing. Aunt Rebecca was pleased to announce that things seemed to be getting better. The doctor said that Uncle Hardy's cancer seemed to be relenting. She thought of her uncle, how he was such a big, strong and confident man, and how he was now emaciated lying in a hospital bed. Her heart was broken. Uncle Hardy joined her video call for a few minutes and then went to sleep again. Aunt Rebecca covered him with the blanket and walked out of the room to let him rest. The two women continued to talk for a while. Her aunt told her about things at home.

After a while, the conversation shifted to the topic that Aunt Rebecca had seemed to concern herself with a lot recently. She hesitated before asking: "So, how's your love life?"

Rachel sneered: "I'm so busy, auntie. I don't have time to think about dating."

Aunt Rebecca was silent for a moment, a worried look crossing her face.

“Rachel, I don't want to interfere in your private life, but you should also think about yourself too. Don't just work to send money home. You are not too young anymore. We are planning to sell the house and buy a cheaper one. Things will be fine. I know it has been hard for you these past few years. I always feel so bad that you have to share this burden with us."

"Please don't say that, Auntie. You two are not a burden, you are family! You both have taken care of me all my life, so let me take care of you as much as possible.”

Although she denied it to Aunt Rebecca, it was true that, lately, Rachel had been feeling lonelier than usual. Especially when Alex had proposed to Lisa and the two soon would move to another place, building their own lives. Maybe Aunt Rebecca was right, maybe it was time for her to think about herself, maybe she should find someone.

After her lunch break, she returned to the office to continue her work in the afternoon. When she entered the main lobby of the company, she saw a familiar figure sitting and chatting with a consultant. Her steps slowed. She stood there for a moment to make sure she wasn't mistaken, then stepped forward in surprise and delight: “Matt Hawkings! Is that you? I can't believe it!”

Lifting his head, the handsome young man looked surprised. Pausing for a second, he came to his senses, exclaiming: "Rachel!"

“Matt, what are you doing here?” Rachel asked.

“Doing some work, obviously!.” Looking at Rachel from head to toe, his gaze landed on her ID card. Then he asked, "You work for L&R?"

“Yes, I work in the HR department. Are you looking to buy our real estate?”

Matt smiled sheepishly: “That's right. The other day a friend introduced me to your Coral Bay project. I am very interested, so I came to find out.”

Only then did Rachel notice that the person advising him was Linda, a new salesperson who had joined the company last month.

The two paused for a moment to take a closer look at each other. She wanted to ask a lot of things about his life right now. The last time they had met was three years ago. He had helped her through a very difficult time in her life. She met him during an internship at the end of her bachelor's program. At that time, he was her instructor.

"How do you become more and more beautiful?" Matt praised.

Rachel's cheeks flushed. It wasn't that she rarely received compliments, but there was something in his voice which made all women feel confident. That they were truly beautiful, truly admired.

“You look good too.” She complimented him back, her eyes darting over the files on the desk, thinking he must have been very successful over the years. The villas in the palm forest were the most expensive ones in the project. Not wanting to waste his time, she said: “Nice to see you again. Let's talk later when we have time.

Matt nodded. After a moment of silence, he said: “Definitely. Do you have a business card?”

Rachel shook her head: "I'm just an employee."

He rummaged through his wallet for a business card and gave it to her: "Promise me you will call me when you have time. I'm really glad to see you again."

When Rachel returned to the office, everyone was huddled together. She walked over curiously: "What's wrong?"

Sabrina then grabbed her hand and pointed to the photo on the cover of a famous gossip magazine. Rachel glanced at the title: "Rosie Chu's mystery admirer".

Rosie Chu, originally a lingerie model, had suddenly been chosen to act in one or two blockbuster movies in recent years. Not only that, to people's surprise, she had also won awards at an international film festival. She was currently highly sought after by the press. The photos didn’t show any clear face but people could recognize Rosie from her back, walking next to a tall man. But why did that man look familiar? Rachel thought for a second. Seeing her confused expression, Sabrina impatiently said, “It’s our boss!"

Rachel paused for a moment and then looked at the photos again. Dalziel's expensive sapphire-encrusted Audemars Piguet was unmistakable.

Instinctively, she muttered, "No way, Dalziel is engaged already…Right?"

Sabrina laughed: "How can you be so naive? A rich person like our boss would never be faithful to one person. If I were a man and had that much money, I'd date a different lingerie model every month."

For some reason, a sense of loss welled up inside Rachel. Was there really no such thing as love and loyalty if a man had everything he wanted?

A feeling of sadness writhed inside Rachel. Not because she still loved Flynn. Yes, Flynn was her first love, the one who had taught her everything she knew about love. But Flynn was gone. She couldn’t work out if he had changed his skin and turned into a completely different person or if he had always been this man. The day they broke up, she was heartbroken. She had suffered so much that it was a wound which would never heal but, now that she had witnessed this, she realized that she and Flynn could never have had a different ending. She could never accept her man being unfaithful. Their relationship, if it lasted, would have only caused her more suffering.